Great Britain’s women secured a World Championship bronze medal in dramatic fashion on the final day of the Canoe Polo World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, beating Poland 4-3 after extra time.
After a strong showing throughout the group stages, the senior women continued to build momentum as the competition progressed, moving into the decisive weekend in a strong position.
Saturday saw GB draw 2-2 with Italy before edging past the Netherlands 2-1 to set up a semi-final against hosts Germany.
Despite a spirited performance, GB were beaten 5-2 by Germany on Sunday morning, sending them into the bronze-medal match against Poland.
What followed was an extraordinary finale, with the bronze-medal match going into 18 minutes and 16 seconds of extra time before co-captain Sara Hanao-Madden found the winning goal to secure GB the bronze medal.
GB co-captain Georgina Longbottom said the result exceeded the team’s expectations coming into the championships.
“We’re unbelievably happy. Our goal coming into the tournament was the semi-final, and we’ve exceeded that, so we couldn’t be happier.
“It’s a credit to everyone in the team, our coaches and our families who have supported us. Everyone has helped us get to this point over the past year or more, and we’ve stuck together.”
Co-captain Sara Hanao-Madden, who finished the championships as GB’s leading scorer, reflected on the intensity of a bronze-medal match that went down to the final moments.
“It just wasn’t easy. We made an absolute show of it at the end and we’re just so happy to see it over the line.
“As a team, we’ve been working on our breathing and trying to take those moments during the week, and we really needed it in that game, especially when we went down, then equalised, and had to fight through the overtime. To get that last shot and get it over the line was just brilliant.”
The bronze medal caps a memorable championship campaign for the senior women, who had set themselves the target of reaching the semi-finals and went on to secure a place on the podium.
GB men finish fourth
The GB men also battled through to the medal stages, finishing fourth after a pair of closely fought matches on Sunday.
Saturday saw GB record back-to-back victories, beating Chinese Taipei 4-2 before following it up with a 5-2 win over Spain to book their place in the semi-finals.
Italy edged GB 4-3 in Sunday morning’s semi-final, setting up a bronze-medal meeting with France.
The sides were locked in another tight contest, but France eventually took the bronze with a 5-4 victory after extra time, leaving GB fourth overall.
U21 teams round off campaigns
The GB U21 women finished seventh overall, ending their tournament with a 3-2 victory over Australia in Saturday’s seventh-place play-off.
The GB U21 men also completed their campaign on Saturday, finishing 10th overall after a 3-1 defeat to Italy in their final classification match.
Their final game followed a closely fought second phase, which included a 5-4 victory over Belgium and draws against France and the Netherlands.
With all four GB teams now having completed their competitions, the championships conclude with the senior women returning home with World Championship bronze, alongside fourth-, seventh- and 10th-place finishes across the remaining GB squads.
Great Britain squads
Senior women: Ruth Harrison, Ella Winterbottom, Tegan Cain, Megan Hamer-Evans, Catrin Schroder, Georgina Longbottom, Sara Hanao-Madden, Katie Howes, Virginia Coyles.
Senior men: Caleb Bowden, Suryan McCutcheon, Alex Lowthorpe, Angus Boyle, Jake Searle, Jack Winder, Fergal McConvey, Santanam McCutcheon.
U21 women: Molly Fletcher, Jessie Hurtt, Emmy-Lou Hussin, Willow Lewis, Leena De Mul, Laura Evans, Poppy Clews, Evie McNamara.
U21 men: Henry McCann, Koby Clarke, Cameron Fletcher, Jack De Mul, Nathan Aleksic, Luke Evans, Flynn Hammond, Hayden Dodd.
As shared from: https://paddleuk.org.uk/gb-women-battle-to-world-championship-bronze-in-duisburg-thriller/